DAVAO CITY -- Felcris Hotels &
Resorts Corp. of the Yap family plans to invest up to P5 billion in a
5.9-hectare mixed-use project along this city’s Quimpo Boulevard.

Cassandra Yap, executive
vice-president of the company, said during the project’s groundbreaking on
Wednesday last week that the first phase of the project, dubbed Felcris
Centrale, involves a 12-storey commercial building on which the company will
invest at least P1 billion.

“Felcris Centrale is ideally located
and is easily accessible from neighboring business establishments, government
offices and residential communities. With its proximity to the Davao City Hall
and the old Davao Central Business District, this development provides its
occupants easier access to the major transportation and business areas,” Ms.
Yap said.

The building, which will have a
shopping mall and a business process outsourcing center, will have a 54,000
square meters in floor area. The 10 floors will be for office spaces and the
first two levels will be for retail and entertainment “complete with
supermarket, boutiques, restaurants and specialty shop,” Ms. Yap said.

“It will feature a mall, which offers
a mix of shops and restaurants that are complemented by a fully landscaped
activity and entertainment area,” she added.

She said the project will showcase the
city as “fruit and flower basket of the Philippines” with flower, fruit, local
delicacies and handicraft stalls as locators.

Aside from the building, the company
will also put up a hotel and other structures on the site, said Ms. Yap without
elaborating.

“I know everybody is excited to see
this project,” Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio said during the event, adding that
she hoped work on the project could start within the next three months.

The groundbreaking ceremonies, Ms. Yap
explained, was timed with the founding of the Felcris brand in this city on
Sept. 19, 1969.

Felcris started with a textile store
on Anda St., which eventually grew into what is now Felcris Supermarket.

The company then strengthened its
foothold on the retail industry in the city as it started the Warehouse Club
brand and its Davao Central Warehouse Club.